Shutterstock / Ed Connor
A report published in July estimated that the record breaking temperatures this summer could cost the Texas economy $9.5 billion in real gross product.
More than a third of respondents in the state's service sector said extreme temperatures have are the driving cause for recent declines in revenue or production. More than half of service-sector businesses said that lower customer demand — something also attributable to unrelenting heat — play a key role in their dwindling sales.
And it's not just the service sector that's getting baked by the scorching weather, according to the Dallas Fed. Nearly half of the state's manufacturers and 35.3% of its retailers said higher-than-usual temperatures are the primary cause for declines in revenue or production.
Small-business owners in San Antonio recently told the Current the ongoing heat wave is torching their bottom lines.
"We need to be proactive and deal with this heat," Terry Corless, CEO of the Alamo City's Mad Dog Restaurant Group said last month. "That's not likely to change."
The Dallas Fed's survey aligns with a report published in July by Waco-based economist M. Ray Perryman, whose firm estimated that the Texas economy could lose $9.5 billion in real gross product due to this summer's record-high temperatures.
Experts also warn that global climate change may force businesses to adapt to hotter summers going forward.
"The reality is, given the scientific predictions, this summer — with its oppressive and widespread heat waves — is likely to be one of the coolest summers of the rest of our lives," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in July.
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